Merab Sharikadze ( ka, მერაბ შარიქაძე; born 17 May 1993) is a Georgian professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who plays as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

for Super Cup club Black Lion and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the Georgia national team.

Early life

Merab Sharikadze began rugby in Tbilisi with the club 'Academia'. Aged just 16, he was called up to Georgia U18 team. In 2011, thanks to a partnership between the GRU and Hartpury College, Merab Sharikadze went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to learn and play for Hartpury College R.F.C. Thanks to his strong performances, he was called up to play for Gloucester U19. The same year, he was named Georgia U19's captain. He made his full international debut on the 21 February 2012 against Spain, aged only 18, the 7th youngest player to be capped by Georgia.

Club career

In September 2013, Merab Sharikadze joined the French side Union Sportive Bressane, just promoted in

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

, the French second division. The team finished on the bottom of the table and was relegated. Sharikadze signed to another Pro D2 side,

Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne (commonly known as Aurillac) is a French professional rugby union club that was founded in 1904 and currently play in the Rugby Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Aurillac`s home matches are mostly play ...

and joined them during the summer 2014. At international level, the inside centre played his first game against a Tier1 nation in November 2014, against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and ...

. He showed his defensive skills, making 22 tackles during the game.

References

http://tier2rugby.blogspot.fr/2014/03/the-georgian-backline-hope-merab.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20141220083959/http://www.thescore.ie/georgia-ireland-centre-irish-coaches-1778472-Nov2014/
http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/player/160271.html
http://www.lerugbynistere.fr/videos/video-merab-sharikadze-casse-quatre-plaquages-samoans-donne-victoire-georgie-2611131828.php

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharikadze, Merab 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Moscow Rugby union players from Georgia (country) Georgia international rugby union players Russian rugby union players Russian sportspeople of Georgian descent Rugby union centres Expatriate rugby union players from Georgia (country) Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in France Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in England Union Sportive Bressane players Stade Aurillacois Cantal Auvergne players The Black Lion players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players